Capital City Trust Co. FL Sells 5,900 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Capital City Trust Co. FL cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 49.4%, holding just 6,033 shares after selling 5,900 shares in the first quarter.
• Altria Group reported a 4.2% year-over-year decrease in revenue, with a net margin of 43.09%, and beat EPS estimates by $0.04 for the last quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, representing an annualized yield of 6.82% and a payout ratio of 68.34%.

Capital City Trust Co. FL lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 49.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,033 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,900 shares during the quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL's holdings in Altria Group were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6,969.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock worth $129,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,813 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $91,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in Altria Group by 86.0% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,675,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,782 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $61.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,507,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,251,876. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.57 and a 12 month high of $62.32. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $59.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.24. The company has a market capitalization of $104.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.13.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.